Marilyn Z. Tomlins

Die in Paris

A spring night in Paris. Suddenly the night's stillness is shattered by sirens and excited voices. For days foul smoke has been pouring from the chimney of an uninhabited house close to the Avenue des Champs-Elysées. Police and fire fighters race to the house to break down the bolted door. They make a spine-chilling discovery. The remains of countless human beings are being incinerated in a furnace in the basement. In a pit in an outhouse quicklime consumes still more bodies. Neighbors say they hear banging, pleading, sobbing and cries for help come from inside the house deep at night. They say a shabbily-dressed man on a green bike pulling a cart behind him comes to the house, always at dawn, or dusk.

The house belongs to Dr. Marcel Petiot - a good-looking, charming, caring, family physician who lives elsewhere in the city with his wife and teenage son. Is he the shabbily-dressed man on the green bike? If so, what has he to say about the bodies?

Marilyn Z.Tomlins is a freelance journalist. She lives and works in Paris, France.

For some (and you know who I mean, don’t you K?) the posts are thousands of words long; for others, just a photo and a balanced phrase.

It matters little to me which format the blogger prefers; I look for that something special (and failing that, I look for posts about lingerie and Citroen 2Cvs!)

So, whilst still quite a young blog (in terms of number of posts), I’ve decided to review Angela in Provence because of the quality of the content of her blog posts.

Every post seems to contain well argued observations and thoughts and many are enhanced by a recipe that is local to Provence.

To see what I mean, let’s start with The Dinner Party (which sounds like it should be a stage play from the fifties.) In fact, it’s very much current and of the era although the reference to Hotel California does give the age of the guests away (I remember my granny reminiscing wistfully about dancing to Hotel California… in her youth!)

The recipe for Tarte aux Blettes (Chard tart) is timeless, though.

Enough of this; we want to read about bonking snails!

Of course, whilst it is vital to understand the French Dinner Party (the subtle nuances of etiquette; the shadowy hints of tradition and the endless ambition to avoid looking anything like Alan Bennett, or any of his stage plays) it is, in my opinion, far more important to know How to eat Snails.

Without this vital information, the visitor to France will not know how to pick, clean, keep and cook this cornerstone of any self respecting Provencal’s breakfast.

And this, to me, is the mark of a fine blog. To be able to search on Google for a random term such as… Provencal Copulation Snails and have your blog come up in the top spot takes a skill of a really peculiar kind!

Wild about wild mushrooms….

Whilst I love snails I do have to admit to being wild about wild mushrooms!

It appears that Angela is as well, as she posts a lovely recipe for Wild Mushroom Risotto in a post entitled October.

Now, like Angela, October is my favourite month; the tourists have gone home and we can reclaim our favourite tables at the bar.

The supermarkets are empty at lunchtime (instead of being crowded with noisy English families trying to decide if the 1&euro;20 bordeaux was worth laying down or… should they go for the 1&euro;20 Cote de Rhone instead?) and the parking spaces aren’t all taken by foreign four wheel drives (all full of screming sunburnt kids and cases of 1&euro;20 bordeaux!)

But, for me, what makes October really special is the mushrooms int he forest – just waiting to be picked!

And talking of mushrooms (were we? Now, that’s unusual, isn’t it?) there are Truffles to be found (although a little bit later in the year.)

Now, I can’t normally afford Truffles (unless I send Mrs A Taste of Garlic to ply her trade at the local lap-dancing club; and she’s not too keen on doing that anymore since her leotard snapped mid pas de chat!) but I’d be interested in going to the Fete des Truffes in Uzes just for the 3,000 egg omelette!

Now, that’s what I call a proper breakfast!

A Mayor is not a Mayor unless he’s been arrested…

Why is it that down in Provence, no self respecting Mayor puts himself up for election unless he’s planning to spend some time behind bars?

Personally, I blame it all on that Pastis they drink down there!

Anyway, Angela does try to explain some of the ins and outs of Provencal local politics in Snow and Corruption but I do have to admit that I skipped most of her explanation as I was too easily distracted by the three (yes, three!) recipes on the same post.

No Provencal blog would be complete without a photo of a street full of sheep and Angela doesn’t miss out this vital element. In Searching for a low stress life she provides the photo, a recipe and an investigation into what is the most stress free job in the world.

Now, I’m not going to give the secret away but, as I have a friend who does that very same job, I’d have to agree! Up here (in rural Brittany), if you do that job and it’s too hot or too cold, you’re not allowed to work – you have to go and sit in the bar instead! Really stress free!

I wonder which Mayor you have to bribe to get on the waiting list for that job?

So, summing up…..

A short review because Angela in Provence is fairly new and I wanted to leave plenty for you to discover yourself.

If you like well written articles which come with interesting recipes then, Angela in Provence is an interesting place to visit.

And me? Well, I’ve been having a sniff around and.. yes! I can small that subtle scent of all things French…. Garlic Soup!

So I’m off to have a butchers at the recipe and then I’ll haul Mrs A Taste of Garlic out of bed and ask her to make some for me, for breakfast!

Oh, and by the way, I really am sorry for all that ranting about the English people and the 1&euro;20 bordeaux!

And, if you’re one of those poeple in the supermarket who asked my advice about which wines to lay down….

I really am sorry for putting on that horrible French accent and saying… “Ah, mais oui! Ooh La La, But zee best place for you to buy your wine ees at Chateaux Total next, how you say, to the roundabout! I think the most recent vintage is about 1&euro;20 for a litre, no less!”

2 Comments

Thank you for bringing to our attention yet another cool blog! I swear, my reading list is nearly becoming unmanageable from all the wonderful blogs about which you write. I love that you do this for everyone, though, and do it in such a way that everyone and anyone can find something they enjoy reading about France! I love the diversity of blogs that is represented here.

Thanks for doing this (again. It really is a service to the expat blogging community in France, though, and you do what you do so very well!).

Thanks for this, I only just discovered it! Its nice to get a review, as most of the time you’re just sending things out into the ether (not so often on my part) and have no idea where it lands. Also wanted to say how much I like this site (well I would wouldn’t I?) as it does give us lone bloggers a sense of community. As I am quite new to all this, its great to see what other people are doing and to have someone like you to filter through the best onesl for us!